I began learning about childbirth hypnosis when I was pregnant with my second baby. I had a difficult and long birth experience the first time around. It wasn't so much the discomfort of birth that I was worried about, but the length of my birthing time. Knowing that my first birth was long, I really focused on the element of time. I really wanted to decrease the length of my birth and avoid the extra interventions I had during my first birth. I LOVED the phrase in my Hypnobabies Tracks that suggested "Every 15 minutes feels like 5 minutes to me". I practiced my Hypnobabies Program faithfully every day.
The evening I went into my birthing time, I was laying on the couch and practicing my hypnosis and the suggestions about sensations of my birthing waves began to feel REALLY real. I could almost feel pressure building and releasing in my belly, and I loved how relaxed each pressure sensation made me feel. Eventually, I felt a "pop" and immediately knew my body was actually starting my birthing time. My waters had released. I went to the bathroom to clean up, and felt excited. 2 quick hours later, I met my son Shawn with relatively little discomfort and two involuntary pushes. It was such an amazing experience, that I decided to become a Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor to share this amazing gift to expecting families. Here is what my experience taught me about the value of hypnosis for birth:
The daily, ritualistic practice of focusing my mind on my body, my baby and my birthing time gave me a sense of peace during my pregnancy. I felt more calm, relaxed and centered about my birth. I anticipated it with excitement and a knowledge that my birth would be better than I could imagine.
Having a tangible tool to share with my partner is invaluable and gave him & my birth team tools to help keep me more comfortable if I needed them to recenter me. It made hime a more active participant in the birth than if I didn't have this method to help.
Hypnobabies allowed me to visualize and create my experience ahead of the birth. It discussed birthing sensations, and things that I would feel in a way that didn't make me feel fearful. Hypnobabies uses positive language to replace common words regarding the birth process that would normally instill fear in the mind of expecting women. It bolsters confidence, and allows the mind to adjust to the sensations in her body with calm.
Hypnobabies provides a comprehensive childbirth education program. The insight families come to their birth with Hypnobabies gives them the power to make decisions more clearly. They learn how to ask questions, and what questions to ask in order to work more effectively with their providers. They know how to self advocate and have a better grasp in knowledge of the birth process. It helps build the trust and relationships with family and birth partners to make pregnancy and birth a better experience for all.
Hypnobabies creates more calm, more comfortable experiences, AND a more smooth and joyous pregnancy. After seeing my own differences in pregnancy/birth as well as hundreds of other women experiencing better births I cannot express how much I love working with Hypnobabies families and seeing how much better their births are with the hypnosis.
My next Hypnobabies sessions for Hudson Valley Families are offered July 14th and September 8th as 6 week sessions. You MUST have a phone call with me prior to signing up for the series. Schedule a free consultation session with me and we can discuss the course information and secure your spot in class. The cost of the series is $450 and held in 6 weekly sessions. If you cannot make the scheduled series, you may use my affiliate link for the Hypnobabies Home Study program which is equally powerful.